Virginia tribes seek recognition by '07: Impatiently waiting

Is this the year for federal recognition of the state's Indian tribes? At least one leader from the six tribes seeking that status through Congress thinks so.The tribes -- the Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Monacan, Nansemond, Rappahannock and Upper Mattaponi -- have been pushing for the recognition for about six years.

This year, the official Jamestown 2007 commemoration will begin when the Godspeed replica sails in May. The 18-month series of events is expected to draw extra attention to Virginia, but it also could become a venue for the six tribes to protest if they're still not federally recognized. (Virginia's two additional tribes are not seeking federal recognition through Congress.)

Two chiefs -- Ken Adams of the Upper Mattaponi and Steve Adkins of the Chickahominy -- sat down recently at the Chickahominy Tribal Center for a question-and-answer session about federal recognition and the 400th anniversary of America's first permanent English settlement. The center, decorated with portraits of former chiefs, sits in rural Charles City County, which is home to several hundred members of the Chickahominy tribe.

Q: News reports have said Virginia tribes could boycott the Jamestown 2007 commemoration if you don't receive federal recognition and more recently that you definitely will participate. What's your position right now on participation and recognition?

Adams: We will participate. I don't think there's any doubt at this point that the tribes have pretty much agreed to participate. However, we will not participate as happy participants -- we will not be totally comfortable -- if we do not have the federal acknowledgement that we deserve.

Adkins: We just won't feel like we're full participants. ... If we aren't recognized by that time, well, that will be the shot heard around the world, because we'll be on the world stage. The world will recognize that ... descendants of those same (American Indians) who acted in such a way that the first permanent English settlement was permanent, those descendants of those same people are here commemorating an event when they're still disenfranchised.

Q: Do you think you will get federal recognition?

Adkins: I'm an eternal optimist. I think we will. I believe the right thing will happen.

Adams: I believe it also. I believe it's going to happen this year.

Q: Why is federal recognition important?

Adkins: Let me tell you the first reason -- the reason that put us in the fray, the reason that we came to the table: It's a matter of pride. It's a matter of the governing body of these United States of America recognizing that we are sovereign nations. There's been no official action to strip us of our sovereignty, so why don't we have it?

Adams: There are 562 federally recognized Indian tribes. That's a large number. None of those are from Virginia. There are six in Virginia that are looking for the same acknowledgement as those 562. ... In reality, it's an issue of equality with those other 562 tribes.

Adkins: It's the right thing to do. Now to be sure, federal recognition does open the door to some educational opportunities. It does let us get in the queue to compete for scholarship monies that otherwise (are unavailable).

And there are some healthcare facilities that are available to federally recognized tribes. But I doubt that our people would avail themselves much of that, because the closest one is several hundred miles away in North Carolina.

Q: What is the holdup within the federal government?

Adkins: We've had some concerns from some folks thinking that we would game (gamble).

Adams: I don't even want to talk about that.

Adkins: But the bill (one version in the U.S. Senate and the other in the House) addresses it. It says we won't.

Q: U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-McLean, is one key figure who has held up progress on recognition because of his concerns about opening the door to Indian casinos. What would you say to him to change his mind?

Adkins: I think the bill adequately addresses that. There's been no desire (for gaming). My folks would kick me out of the tribe, to be truthful.

Adams: The bill adequately addresses gaming, and we've stated that time and time again.

Q: In the coming months, what's happening in your efforts to get federal recognition? What's next?

Adams: The governor's office is working on it. I believe that there are members of the state legislature who are working on it. And we have members in the United States Senate who are really working on it hard. And we also have members in the U.S. (House of Representatives) who are working on it. So I believe we're really going to have some good success in the next three months.

Q: Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist involved in an influence-peddling scandal, did not represent any Virginia Indian tribes, but he did represent other tribes across the country. Is the Abramoff scandal indirectly hurting Virginia tribes at all?

Adams: If it does, it shouldn't hurt us, because we had absolutely nothing to do with that. It appears from some of the things that I've read that they're trying to attach some of the problems to some of the Indian communities that were dealing with Abramoff. However, if you look at who's being charged with the criminal activity, it is not the Indian community.

Adkins: I would think that the Abramoff scandal would probably cause lots of folks to look more closely at any kind of legislation around Indian tribes. So from that perspective, I don't know whether it will or won't, but it shouldn't.

Q: In the past, you've described the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement as an opportunity. How is it an opportunity?

Adkins: When people tell the story, you automatically start out sympathizing with the plight -- and admiring the courage -- of the settlers. And then when you shift gears and start talking about the Indians, they're these barbarians who just wantonly killed and attacked the settlers. Well, the true story is the Indians were defending their homeland. They were defending their women and children, just fighting for their very survival.

But initially, which is in stark contrast, the Indian folks actually were the ones who made that first permanent English settlement permanent. ... Without the support and assistance of the native folks, Jamestown wouldn't have survived.

Adams: Another thing that I think is kind of lost is the fact that the Indians that lived in this area were very healthy people. Evidence shows that they were much healthier than the British that came this way. One thing, of course, that destroyed part of us was the disease that the British brought with them.

Adkins: It's an opportunity to tell who we were then, and who we are now.

Adams: One other opportunity (to tell a story), which you really very rarely hear about, is the beginning of the decimation of the Indian culture in America. ... What happened at Jamestown was the beginning of almost the entire annihilation of a human race. You don't read about that in textbooks. You don't hear about it on the evening news. ... But it's the truth. *

FEDERAL RECOGNITION

* Establishes a sovereign status for dealing with the U.S. government.

* Provides eligibility for federal services in areas such as education and health care.

A prisoner being treated at a northern Virginia hospital wrestled with a guard Tuesday and took her gun before escaping in a hospital gown and fleeing in a carjacked vehicle, police said. The prisoner was captured hours later in nearby Washington.

Two cross-dressing men who were shot at by National Security Agency police when they disobeyed orders at a heavily guarded gate were driving a car they had just stolen from a man who picked them up to "party" in a nearby motel, police said.

Pamunkey Tribe could receive federal recognition this year. Life on the 450 acre reservation in King William Co. west of West Point. Chief Kevin Brown, their museum is open and people will be out and around.